Serpents and Hunters
by autumnprimes
Summary: Sam and Dean were left in Riverdale, where Sam could have normal teenage years and Dean could train with the half-gang, half hunter Serpents. Now, years later, there is trouble as the Serpents' leader, FP, has been arrested, and an unknown supernatural creature in a black hood is attacking the town. It's time for Jughead to step up and learn what's really going on.
1. Chapter 1

"You shouldn't be in here," FP says when he sees Dean approaching his cell in the Sheriff's department. "I've gone to a lot of trouble not to get any of you Serpents in danger with the law, don't you go undoing that just for the sake of seeing me off."

"Oh, I've heard what you did," Dean replied, coming up to the bars and crossing his arms, "and don't you worry, I've got no intention of getting in trouble with the law. In fact, I'm kind of curious why exactly _you_ did. It's not like you, man."

"Serpents were already involved," FP says. "We protect our own."

Dean throws his hands up in the air in exasperation. "You mean Mustang? He dug his own grave. You didn't need to help dig it for him."

"I did," says FP, and he approaches the bar, looking Dean in the eyes. "And now you have to do the same. The Serpents are yours while I'm in here, and that means you gotta protect them. _All_ of them, whether you like them or not."

Dean scoffs. "Yeah, well," he starts, but FP cuts him off.

"Listen, I mean it," he says. "Now the Serpents are a loyal bunch, but there's some as don't like the direction we've been taking them. There's some as think the way the Northside's been treating us, we shouldn't be protecting them anymore, and others as think we shouldn't be protecting anybody but ourselves. You want to keep them in line, you gotta make sure they know you've got their backs, or they're gonna get yours with a knife."

"Alright, alright," Dean says, raising his hands in surrender. "You've been telling me this stuff for years. I've been listening. I just don't always like it."

"Me neither," FP says, sighing. "But you do what you gotta do."

There's silence between the two of them for a moment.

"Listen," Dean says, and he grows serious, his voice softening, "I didn't come here to argue, about any of this. I came here to let you know - while you're in here, I've got your family's back. Your son, and your daughter too if she comes back here. Might be some -" he pauses, looks around to make sure there's no audio equipment or anything " - demons or something else is angry with you and thinks they'll get back at you with you out of the way, take it out on your son. Well, I'm spreading the word. He might not be one of us, but he's still family. We owe you that much, at least."

FP's quiet for a moment. "That doesn't mean you're bringing him in to the Serpents," he says, a hint of warning in his voice.

"Not unless he wants to join up, and from what you've said, I don't think that's likely," Dean says. "Won't be no pressure from me."

FP nods. "Alright, then," he says, and then gives Dean a half smile. "It's good to know someone's looking out for him. Someone I trust."

Dean smiles back. "Hey, you've had my back for a long time. About time I returned the favour." He claps FP's shoulder through the bars, tucks his hands into his pockets, and heads off. FP watches him go, reflecting on how much Dean's grown. He might have been an adult in name when his dad left him with the Serpents, figuring it would be safer for an 18-year-old kid to learn the hunting trade in a stable place like Riverdale, and that his younger kid Sam would do better with a stable high school. But it's been his time with the Serpents that's transformed Dean from a kid always in his father's shadow into the leader and competent hunter he is today. Still, it's a hard man he's become, and FP doesn't want that for his kid.

If there's one good thing FP hoped would come from him being in jail, it was that it would keep Jughead further away from this life. He knows Jug will have to learn some of it sooner or later… but he'd rather it be later. Still, there's nothing he can do from prison, and Dean's right; Jug needs someone to watch his back.

FP sighs, and sits back on his cot, staring at the ceiling and thinking again about how everything went wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

Dean's been going back and forth on whether or not to tell Jughead that the Serpents are watching out for him. He's heard that Jughead's getting fostered out to a family on the South, and he figures that he'll be safe and supported enough there; he'll have something like a proper family, at least, which is more than Dean ever had. Besides, he's always kind of had the feeling that Jughead didn't like him, at least not since he got old enough to really understand what the Serpents were. When Dean first arrived, eight years ago, Jughead was still a kid, and FP hadn't really let Dean anywhere near him, not that Dean would have known what to do with him anyway. But the kid had noticed him around, noticed Dean spending more time with the kid's dad than the kid himself sometimes, as FP taught Dean how to hunt, as Dean slowly became the young leader-in-training and eventually FP's right hand. Dean wouldn't be surprised if the kid was a bit jealous of him.

But then Dean notices that Jughead's not actually spending much _time_ at his foster family's house. Like most families on the Southside, they've got ties to the Serpents, and it's easy for Dean to get them to tell him about Jughead's deal - that they'll cover for Jughead while he stays at his dad's old trailer. It makes Dean kinda proud of the kid; he wouldn't want to live with a foster family either. He _hadn't_ wanted to, when his dad dropped him and Sam off with the Serpents. But for Sam's sake, he hadn't had a choice. Seems like this kid had found himself one.

Still, Dean's not super happy about Jughead living on his own. It's going to make his job harder for one; he knows FP's got all the proper protections around his trailer, but Jughead won't know how to maintain them, not yet. Serpent kids learn that sort of stuff young, out of necessity, but most Southsiders try to wait until as late as possible to tell their children that there really are things that go bump in the night, and FP more so than most. It seemed to Dean that the more he taught Dean, the more he got Dean involved in the Serpents and the more FP himself got involved, the farther he tried to keep Jughead away from it all.

Dean's going to do his best to follow in FP's footprints. But as much as he has no problem lying to strangers, he's not a big fan of lying to people close to him. It's part of why there are so few people he's let become close to him. He hopes the kid's not going to fall into that category, because if he wants to follow FP's wishes, he has the feeling he's going to have to do a lot of lying.

There's one thing that Dean knows for sure. He knows what it feels like to have your whole family leave. And he's not going to make Jughead go through that alone.

Dean heads to the Whyte Wyrm, gathers some of the Serpents hanging around there and tells them what's up. Then he grabs the spare double-headed Serpent jacket, the one FP wore when he was a kid - the one that _Dean_ wore when he was a kid. It's too small for Dean now, but it ought to fit Jughead perfectly. It feels right to give it to the kid - a symbol to let him know that the Serpents are looking out for him, that he's got a bigger family than just his absent mom and jailed dad. Then, with the other Serpents following behind, Dean heads over to FP's trailer and knocks on the door.

Jughead knows he should be sleeping, but too much has happened and his brain is too active, so he's writing instead. Betty's reading and editing some of the stuff he's written recently for the Blue and Gold; after Veronica and Archie had gone off together, Betty offered to spend some time with Jughead so that he wouldn't be alone after everything that had happened. They'd talked for a while, and Jug had told her how much it meant to him that she'd never given up on his dad, but after a while their conversation had trailed off and they'd defaulted to their usual relationship of a friendship based largely around shared interests and work. It was late, but Betty had been worried and wanted to stick around a bit longer, so they'd decided that working together would be a good way to take their minds off of FP and Cheryl and Jason and everything else.

When the knock comes, they both assume that it's Betty's mother coming to tell her off for staying out so late, so Jughead's surprised when he opens the door and sees a group of Serpents standing there instead. Surprised, and somewhat concerned. He looks at them apprehensively, wondering if they expect something from him. His dad has kept him pretty far away from the Serpents, and he's not entirely sure how to act around them.

The kid looks nervous, and Dean realizes that showing up at his doorstep in the middle of the night with a gang backing him up might not have been the best way to earn the kid's trust. Still, he's here now, so he has to go with it. "Hey, I uh," he starts, then clears his throat and puts on his most disarming smile before changing to a more genuine, smaller smile. "Look, kid, your Dad's done a lot for all of us, and kept us out of a lot of trouble by taking the fall himself. So I just want you to know - for as long as he's in there, we've got your back."

Jughead continues looking at them, not really sure what to say. After a moment, Dean lifts something by his side, and Jughead sees that it's a jacket, a lot like the one his dad wears, but smaller.

"This is yours," Dean says, holding the jacket out to Jughead. He feels a little awkward now that he's actually doing this, but he knows how important symbols can be. He almost reaches for his necklace subconsciously, but stops himself. "If you want it," he adds, hoping that Jughead will read this as the protection he means it as, not as an invitation to join the Serpents. Even if FP hadn't wanted Jughead away from the Serpents, Dean didn't have the authority to make Jughead a Serpent this easily, and even if he had, making Jughead a Serpent without passing any of the trails wouldn't be doing the kid any favours.

Jughead looks at the jacket, and all he can see is his dad. He reaches for it, and as he touches it, it feels like a little piece of his dad is there with him. Cautiously, he slips one arm into the sleeve, and it feels like a shield; like his dad's hovering over him, protecting him, even from afar. And he realizes, that in a way, he is; his dad might not be able to be there for him, but he's sent these people, his second family, to look after him. For once, Jughead can see what FP means when he talks about the Serpents as a community, as people who look out for each other. He glances at the gathered Serpents as he slides his other arm into the jacket and shrugs it on. It fits perfectly, almost like it was made for him, and Jughead feels a smile growing on his face.

It's only when he hears his name that he remembers that Betty is in the trailer. She's watching from the doorway, looking concerned. He looks back, conflicted, but then he hears a laugh.

"I wouldn't have bothered you if I knew you had a girl in there!" Dean says. "Sorry, dude, I'll leave you to it. Adios," he says with a wink, and waves the rest of the Serpents after him. They leave before Jughead can protest that it's not like that, their motorcycles revving into the night.

Jughead looks at Betty, at a loss for words. She looks back at him awkwardly for a moment, then reaches for her bag that she left at the doorway. "Listen," she says, "It's… getting late. I should head home before my mom murders me, or you." She gives Jughead a small, awkward smile and slips out beside him before he can figure out what to say.

Jughead stands for a moment, the Serpent jacket on, but suddenly feeling cold. The comforting feeling of community that the jacket had momentarily brought has faded, and his dad feels distant again. Jughead pulls the jacket off and walks into the trailer, closing the door behind him. He tosses it on a chair, stares at his computer for a moment, and then closes it and heads to his room. He doesn't want to be awake anymore. He doesn't want to think about everything that's happened. He just wants to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_If the Serpents really have my back, meet me in the alley behind the hospital ASAP,_ the text message says. "Well that kid doesn't waste any time," Dean mutters before the locations sinks in. "The hospital. Shit," he swears aloud, startling a few of the other Serpents. "You, come with me," he says, waving at the nearest Serpent, distracted enough that he didn't really notice who it was. It was one of the younger serpents, still in high school; FP might have left him control of the Serpents, but that didn't mean Dean was eager to test his authority with the older Serpents, who might not take well to being bossed around by someone so much younger. Not that he was scared of them; this just wasn't the time.

Dean hopped on his motorcycle and the other Serpent hopped on his own behind him. They raced down the roads to the hospital, Dean worrying the whole time that the kid had managed to get himself hurt on Dean's first day supposedly protecting him. When Jughead finally approached, completely unhurt, Dean feels relieved, but also a little annoyed.

"When you told me to meet you at the hospital I thought you'd gotten hurt," Dean says, his tone a little accusatory. "You gotta give me more context, kid."

Jughead's a little taken aback at Dean's tone; most of the times he's seen Dean before he's been either smirking and flirting, or deadly serious. He recovers quickly though. He wonders if he should apologize, but any time he's seen his dad interacting with the Serpents, he's always been tough and unyielding; Jughead figures apologies might not go over too well with a biker gang. For Archie's sake, he needs the Serpents to see him as strong, so they'll do what he asks. "I was wondering about when you said the Serpents had my back," Jughead starts. "Does that courtesy extend to a guy who's like my brother? And a man who's like a second father to me?"

If Dean's being honest, he didn't really intend for it to. But this is the first thing the kid's asking him, and if he turns the kid away now, he probably won't be coming back. "What do you need?" Dean asks, suppressing a sigh, trying to look concerned and comforting.

"My buddy's dad was just _shot_ ," Jughead says, and he almost lets his tough mask slip, thinking Mr Andrews lying there injured, his fate uncertain. _Keep a hold of yourself,_ Jughead tells himself. "During a robbery at Pops. The guy was in a black hood."

"Serpents don't wear masks," scoffs the Serpent behind Dean. Dean glares over at him, noticing for the first time that the Serpent he grabbed was one of Tallboy's lackeys, one with the unfortunate nickname of String Bean. The older crew who took on Serpent names all had respectable ones, or at least descriptive ones - Tallboy, Hog Eye - but for some reason totally unknown to Dean, the younger ones have started taking ridiculous ones like Sweet Pea, String Bean, and Fangs, although at least Fangs sounds a _little_ ferocious. Dean never really took one himself; if FP's given name was good enough for him, then Dean was good enough for Dean. He's honestly not sure why String Bean thought that was a better name than Tyler, but he'll go with it if that's what the kid wants.

Tallboy's one of the older crew who Dean's expecting the most pushback from. He used to be FP's right hand before Dean came along, and even though Dean had nothing to do with the rift that grew between him and FP, he knows Tallboy blames him for it. More than that, Dean suspects that Tallboy wants the leadership of the Serpents for himself. Dean will have to keep an eye on him.

Dean turns back to Jughead, ready to echo the sentiment in slightly more gentle terms, but Jughead's already talking.

"I get it," Jughead says, and really, he does - he doesn't think the Serpents are behind this and is mostly doing it for Archie's sake. Still, to be able to tell Archie he's looked into it, he needs to look into it for real, and if he's being honest, there _is_ at least _some_ motive there. "But some of those Serpents were working with Fred Andrews when, for reasons of his own, he let them go, suddenly. Maybe some guy took it personally, went rogue. You guys know _every_ hidey-hole in town. Someone _has_ to have heard something about what went down at Pops."

Jughead does have a point there; most criminal activity that goes down in Riverdale is either the Serpents or one of their rivals. Someone really _should_ know what happened at Pops.

Unless, of course, it wasn't a human at all. This sounds like human activity, except that Riverdale's not a gun-violence sort of place, and now there have been _two_ shootings in less than a year. And a random shooting at Pop's, with a guy in a black hood, means it's not even confirmed that the shooter had human features. Dean's not going to get ahead of himself, but there's no harm in checking it out. It's Serpent policy to check out every strange death in Riverdale.

"Alright. We're on it," Dean says, then he claps Jughead on the shoulder. "You go be with your buddy's dad, now," he adds. He waves a hand at String Bean, hops on the motorcycle, and rides off as Jughead heads back inside.


	4. Chapter 4

"You seriously going to do what that kid tells you?" String Bean asks derisively as they get off their motorcycles outside the Whyte Wyrm. Tallboy's always saying that Dean is a sucker, a weakling, always following FP around like a puppydog, and as far as String Bean's concerned this is just more evidence against him. The kid's not even a serpent; the only reason he's got any clout whatsoever is because FP's his old man, and last String Bean checked, the Serpents weren't a hereditary empire.

Dean turns on String Bean angrily. "That 'kid' is our boss's son," Dean shoots back. "I made a promise that the Serpents would look after him while his dad's in jail, and we are _all_ going to follow that promise. But even if I hadn't, he's just given us some information about what might be a creature of some sort. Tracking those things down is what us Serpents do."

"Yeah, whatever," String Bean replies, already bored. He didn't join up to be part of some stupid protectors; he joined up because the Serpents were where the _power_ lay in the Southside. He joined up because he wanted a piece of that power. Dean and FP were too caught up in the whole Guardians of Riverdale deal; String Bean might have left and joined the Ghoulies if he hadn't been scooped up by Tallboy. Tallboy, there was a guy with a real vision for what the Serpents could be. Protection in return for fealty; that was how they should be using their training. Stop protecting those who didn't bow to the Serpents, and soon the whole town would be under their thumb, North and South sides both.

"Don't you 'yeah, whatever' me," Dean says. "I'm in charge while FP's gone. That means Serpents do what I say. You a Serpent, or not?"

"Chill, man, I'll follow your lead. I'm a Serpent all the way," String Bean says, trying to play it cool, although the threat scares him. Being kicked out of the Serpents wouldn't be a gentle goodbye, and he knows it. "You say we do research for FP's kid, we do research for FP's kid."

"Good," Dean says, turning his back abruptly and walking into the Wyrm. It worries him a little though; if even this kid is going to give him lip, how is he going to keep the Serpents in line? "You tell me if you hear anything."

He relaxes a little once he gets into the Wyrm, shooting a grin at some of the Serpent ladies as he grabs a drink at the bar. He tosses down the shot, then clangs it with his motorcycle keys. The sound cuts through the room, and the noise settles down as he stands. "We got a new target!" he says, and a couple of cheers erupt in response before people settle down again. It's been quiet recently; a few minor hauntings in the surrounding villages, but most of the Serpents have had to go roaming farther out if they want any action. The ones back home have been more involved in ordinary street crime of the sort that pays the bills than monster hunting recently. Once the room is quiet again, Dean continues. "We're not sure what it is yet, or even if it's one of our sorts, but there's been a shooting. Most of you will remember Fred Andrews; well he got shot during what they're calling a robbery at Pops."

"Serve him right after what he did to us!" someone in the crowd yells. They're far enough away that Dean can't see who it is, which is fortunate for whoever yelled that. Dean knows he's going to have to address those sorts of sentiments anyway; violence might scare them into silence, but it's not going to scare the thoughts from their heads.

"Fred might have done us a bad turn, but he's done us lots of good turns too. Man did what he had to do, just like us," Dean calls back, and there's a murmuring of agreement and dissent both. He waits for it to die down before continuing. "Thing is, I haven't heard anything about any robbery, and I haven't heard anything about anyone buying guns, which leads me to believe that this isn't any ordinary robbery. Thing was wearing a black hood, so it might be a spirit of some sort, but it also might not be human. Headless horseman, grim reaper, keep your eyes and ears open for signs of anything like that. Might also be a possession. You hear anything, let me know." His speech done, Dean steps down, and the rest of the Serpents return to what they were doing beforehand.

Dean might not have been able to see who called out, but String Bean was in the crowd, and he saw. He took note of the Serpent, then headed over to where he knew Tallboy would be waiting, ready to hear about what had gone down.

"Seems like Dean really means to look after FP's kid while he's gone," String Bean says quietly. "Kid asked for a favour and Dean was all too quick to give it to him. Real reason this job is here is because the Jones kid asked him to look into the shooting."

"That so," Tallboy says gruffly, but quietly as well. He thinks for a moment, arms crossed, looking out across the bar, watching Dean without staring. He's been waiting for FP to be out of the way for ages now, and he's damned if he's going to let FP's lapdog take over for him. Nah, now that FP's out of the way, it's Tallboy's turn. "Bet we could use that. What did he say, the kid? He think it was a monster?"

String Bean shakes his head. "Seemed to think it might be a Serpent," he says, laughing a little.

A bit of a smile seems hidden behind Tallboy's usual dour expression. "Does he now," he muses. "And he what, wanted Dean to find this Serpent?"

"Wanted him to ask around," String Bean confirms.

"Seems to me we might have a suspect." Tallboy raises his eyebrows at the man who yelled out in the middle of Dean's speech.

"You want to do what the kid wants too?" String Bean says, incredulous.

"Kid like that has a lot of influence," Tallboy says quietly. "Lot of people look up to FP. Well, if we get his kid on our side, that might win over some of them too. Join him up, set him up in Dean's place, he could be our puppet. Dean might step down for him. Then we bring him down, make him mess up - easy, since he's got no experience - and we step in to fill the void."

A slow smile spreads over String Bean's face as he listens to the plan. "Let's do what the boy asked," says String Bean.

"Quiet-like, now," says Tallboy. "You know the rules."

"A Serpent never harms one of their own," String Bean responds.

"Of course," Tallboy says, as if just an observation, "all depends what you mean by harm." He smirks. "Besides, a little bit of harm might be just what we need to send our old man FP a message. Let him know that just because he was leader out here, don't mean he's leader when he's locked up."

String Bean smirks and leans against the wall next to Tallboy, copying his posture, surveying the room. Tallboy notices the kid trying to be like him and laughs a bit to himself. Nothing like a kid who wants to be you when you're looking for someone to do whatever you say.


	5. Chapter 5

It turns out the guy who yelled isn't even an official Serpent, just one of the Serpent-wannabes who hang around in the Whyte Wyrm hoping for an invite. He was probably trying to show how tough he was. Tough break for him.

Tallboy waits until he leaves the Wyrm, then waves at String Bean to follow him. The two of them grab the guy around the corner. He fights back; they pull him into an alleyway and give him a taste of their fists before dragging him, half-dazed, over to FP's trailer.

The kid's not there yet, so Tallboy takes the man inside. He'd been intending to interrogate the guy with Jughead there, but there's no harm seeing whether the guy's actually done something beforehand. Tallboy still knows his way around the trailer, knows where FP keeps some rope, which they use to tie the man to a chair. String Bean smiles and puts on a set of brass knuckles while Tallboy grabs a glass of water and throws it in the man's face, bringing him back to his senses.

"So," says Tallboy. "Think you're a tough guy, do ya? Thought maybe you'd gain some cred by taking down Fred Andrews?"

"What if I did?" the man sneers, still trying to keep up a tough bravado. Tallboy doesn't believe him for a second, and nods at String Bean, who hits him across the face.

"Tell the truth, now," Tallboy says. "What do you know about this shooting?"

"Nothing I'll tell you. I thought you Serpents didn't hurt your own."

"You're not one of us," String Bean says, then smiles and hits him again. "So I can do this as much as I want." Another punch, this time to the stomach. The man coughs and gasps.

"Let's try this again," Tallboy says, crouching down in front of the man's face. "Do you know anything about who shot Fred Andrews, or do you just have a big mouth?"

The man spits in Tallboy's face, which is a mistake. Tallboy stands, flexes his hand, and gives him a nice roundhouse punch to the temple. The man cries out, and Tallboy turns his back, loosening his hand as String Bean goes to town on the man. _Just a big mouth, then,_ he says, as the man starts to yell for String Bean to stop, that he didn't have anything to do with it, that he's sorry, he'll never come near the Serpents again. Then he goes quiet, blood dripping from his mouth, and String Bean finally backs away, smirking and looking at his boss.

It's then that Jughead comes in.

Jughead's had a day and a half. On top of Mr Andrews nearly dying - although thankfully he's alright now - Jughead had to contend with Betty confronting him about the Serpents. He'd tried to pass it off as nothing, but she hadn't bought it, and eventually he'd been forced to admit to her - and to himself - what this was all really about. How all these things he was embracing now after having spent so long turning his back on them - the trailer, the Serpents, even motorcycling - were really just his way of trying to hold on to his dad, to try to feel a little less like his dad is being taken away.

They'd fought about it, Betty being unable to understand. They'd made up by the end of the day, with Betty having thankfully not told Archie, and telling Jughead that she supported him and would still be his friend no matter what he needed to explore. But her earlier doubts still haunted Jughead, and he wondered whether he wasn't going down a path that five days ago he would have strongly disapproved of.

The scene that greets him when he came into the trailer only makes those doubts grow.

"What the hell, guys, what is this?" Jughead asks, his voice nearly panicked. There is a bleeding man tied to a chair in his trailer. He can hardly even process the sight. Sure, he's glimpsed the violence surrounding FP as head of the Serpents before, but usually only in snatches and fragments. He's never been confronted with it head-on like this before, and his stomach turns as he realizes they probably did this because of him, because of what he asked. Their next words confirm it.

"Heard you wanted us to ask around," Tallboy says in response. "So we did. This guy was shooting his mouth off at the Whyte Wyrm, talking about how if Freddie Andrews was going to let Hiram's bitch run the show, then it was good he was gutshot."

Jughead's eyes take in the man's swollen face, String Bean's bloody brass knuckles, and he's speechless in shock. This was _not_ what he had in mind when he asked the Serpents for help, but he realizes that was his own mistake. This was what the Serpents _were_. This was what he'd been asking for.

"We figured we'd… press him a little. See if it was all talk," String Bean adds, smirking at the look on Jughead's face. _This_ was the kid of FP Jones? No wonder the guy never brought him around the Serpents. The kid was a weakling. They'd be able to manipulate him no problem.

Jughead looks back and forth between the two, somewhere between disbelief and guilt, but he has to ask. "And?"

"And," Tallboy says, his voice almost gruesomely playful, "after a _lengthy_ cross-examination, we concluded he was just being a loudmouth." He says the last to the man who spat in his face, tauntingly, half-hoping the man will give him an excuse to punch him again. Sadly, the man's smarter than that, and just sits there, limp and unresisting, making eyes at the kid as if hoping for mercy.

Jughead's horrified. The man he got beaten up wasn't even guilty of anything. A tiny voice inside wonders if he would have felt less horrified if it had turned out the man had been the one who shot Fred, but Jughead tells himself that no, this was horrifying no matter what the man had done. But he can hardly understand what he's hearing. The Serpents would beat this man to a bloody pulp when he hadn't even done anything? And what had they brought him here for? Did they want Jughead to end up in jail beside his dad? The words come spilling out of Jughead's mouth. "Well then what the hell did you bring him here for? If he didn't even do anything?" He knows he shouldn't let the panic show in his voice, but it does, and he can't keep control of it.

"So you could see we'd done what you asked," Tallboy responds, knowing as he does that the implication that Dean was behind this would only turn the boy against the man. And now to make sure that FP hears the message loud and clear. FP would know who was behind this. "And so you could tell your old man. It's important to us. With or without the jacket, you're a Serpent."

Jughead looks at the jacket, hanging near the door where he'd put it before heading out, after having gone back and forth on whether or not to wear it. He's at a loss for words. All the comfort the jacket had seemed to bring yesterday is gone, and now the thing feels like chains around his neck. All his life he'd stayed as far away from the Serpents as he could, and now, with one question, one request, he's bound himself to them. He knows he has to unchain himself, make it clear he doesn't want anything more from them. He's just not sure how. Or whether he can.

Or whether he should.

String Bean unties the man, and Tallboy and String Bean together hoist him up and lug him out of the trailer. They take him outside of the trailer park, and shove him off into the darkened streets of the south side. Probably some cops will pick him up, think he got into a drunken bar fight or something, bring him to the hospital. Tallboy doesn't have to tell him not to talk about who really did this. The man knows what will happen if he does.

Back in the trailer, Jughead stands in shock for a moment before numbly getting some towels and cleaning up the spatters of blood they'd left on the trailer floor. He gulps as he does, and for a moment feels like he's going to be sick. The image of the man, tied up and bloody, seems to be reflected in every drip and bloodstain. When the blood's gone, Jughead feels like he can still see it, on the floor, on his hands. His stomach churns again. He grabs a towel, turns on the shower to the hottest he can stand, and tries to burn the memory away.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, all Jughead wants to do is sleep the day away, but his dad has an appointment with his lawyer that afternoon and Jughead wants to be there for him. For himself, too. He wants to know how bad it is, how long he's going to have to live without his father (or his mother, for that matter) nearby. He hopes it's not too long. Sure, his dad hid evidence, and then lied, but at least the second he did to protect Jughead. And it's not as if his dad actually _did_ the murder. It can't be that bad… right?

Jughead knows he's lying to himself, but he doesn't want to stop.

He heads to Pops for some breakfast; his dad hasn't got much food around the trailer, and somehow Jughead feels a bit strange eating his stuff anyway. As if he's about to come back and expect the food to still be there. It feels even stranger to realize that he's been living with his dad so inconsistently that he thinks of his dad's food as being his dad's, and not theirs as a family.

After that he heads to Riverdale High to kill some time. The paperwork for his transfer hasn't been processed yet, so officially he's not a part of either school. He considers going to his old classes, but really he just wants to see his friends; his mind is too full of anxiety to take in knowledge. Instead, he hangs around in the offices of the Blue and Gold, working on his novel, until lunchtime, when he meets up with Archie, Betty and Veronica outside, at their usual table.

"Jug!" Betty says, giving him a hug of excitement to see him. "I thought you were at Southside now?"

"Wonderful bureaucracy is taking its time," Jughead explains, glancing over at Archie to see how he's doing. He looks stressed, hunched over, hugging his bag when he sits down. Jughead instinctively wants to reach out and comfort him, but he feels strangely self-conscious about it - probably partly because he wants the feeling of comfort for himself as much as for Archie. He sits down across from him instead. "I'm not around for long, anyway. Just saying hi before I head off to the Sheriff's for a meeting with my dad's joke of a court-appointed lawyer."

"Let me come with you," Archie says quickly, his eyes raising to look at Jughead for the first time. "I've got some flyers I need to drop off there."

"You sure?" Jughead says. "Don't you have class?"

"It's not that far. I can make it back in time," Archie says, standing quickly, and it is only then that Jughead realizes that Archie just intends to walk to the Sheriff's department with him, not stick with him through the meeting with the lawyer. His heart sinks again, though he didn't even realize it had lifted. He tells himself that it would have been strange and awkward for his father if Archie had been there anyway. This is just something Jughead has to deal with himself.

Jughead tries to make conversation as they head over, but Archie doesn't seem much in the mood for talking, and if he's being honest with himself neither is Jughead. When they arrive at the Sheriff's office, reception sends Jughead back to the room where his father is waiting, and he heads off with a half-hearted smile at Archie. Archie is so distracted looking for the Sheriff that he hardly smiles back, and Jughead frowns. He'll have to check in on Archie later. This isn't like him.

There's a few moments of silence as Jughead is left alone with FP; the lawyer hasn't arrived yet. Then FP comes over to the bars.

FP, as usual when he's sober, is more perceptive than most people give him credit for. He can tell that something is bothering Jughead, but he assumes it's the upcoming meeting. He's nervous about it himself. He's been in and out of jail a few times, but not since starting a family, and not on charges anywhere near this severe. He doesn't like the idea of leaving Jughead alone, not even with his friends looking out for him. He's not sure what to say about it that hasn't already been said, though.

For a moment Jughead is tempted to reach through the bars and hug his father, but he doesn't know how FP would react, and he's worried about breaking down now, when he needs to keep a strong face. A shield against the lawyer, and a support for his father. "JB asked me to pass on the news," he says instead. "She's thinking about you too."

"Good to know she hasn't been turned completely against me," FP says, his voice trying to be joking but with a hint of bitterness beneath it. Jughead's not sure what to say to that. The fact that Jughead refused to turn against his father is a large part of the reason that his mother refused to bring him along when she left.

Jughead is quiet for a moment longer before he brings up what's really bothering him. "The Serpents came to visit, too," he says, quietly, not wanting the Sheriff to hear. He still remembers how easily the Sheriff turned to suspecting him of Jason's murder.

FP nods. "Dean said he was going to stop around," he says. "I know you two have your differences, but he's a good kid, and he's promised to look out for you."

"I'm… not sure I like how Serpents 'look after' people," Jughead says, trying to laugh and make it into a joke. FP notices the underlying remaining horror, though, and frowns.

"What do you mean?"

"Mr Andrews got shot," Jughead says, shaking his head. "They don't know who did it. I asked Dean for help tracking them down, and next thing I know Tallboy's in the trailer -"

"Tallboy?" Fp says, sharply but with incredulity as well. He almost laughs. "Dean sent Tallboy to deal with something?"

"Apparently," says Jughead, but before he can tell more of the story or find out why FP is so surprised - Jughead had thought Tallboy was FP's right hand man? Or at least he had been a few years ago, before Jughead started purposely avoiding the Serpents - the Sheriff comes in, leading a man who Jughead assumes is the court-appointed lawyer who will be representing his father.

"I'm going to need to ask you to step back from the bars, son," Sheriff Keller says to Jughead, who bristles a bit at the word "son" but doesn't say anything. "You too, Jones," he says to FP. Then he unlocks the door of the cell, and claps cuffs on wrists that FP holds out. Seeing the cuffs clasp around his father's wrists makes something twist inside of Jughead, although it isn't the first time he's seen it; it feels like a reminder of what's coming, about everything that's keeping his father away from him.

The Sheriff leads them to the interrogation room, and seats FP down at one end of the table. Then he leaves. The lawyer sits opposite FP. Jughead sits for a moment, then stands, restlessly staring at the wall, not wanting to look at the scene in front of him.

The lawyer starts by introducing himself, then tries to make some small talk. FP isn't having any of it. "Let's talk about the damn deal," he says tensely.

The lawyer sighs, and gets down to business. "First, to review the charges you're facing," he says, sounding tired, and Jughead tenses, beginning to pace. Every charge the lawyer says feels like a weight, pulling Jughead down, pulling FP further and further away from him. "Arson, destruction of evidence, making a false confession, obstructing justice, not to mention this whole nasty business of dumping a dead kid in a river."

"I know what I did," FP says, trying to sound sharp, but the fear beneath bleeds through. "What's the deal?" His voice softens, an edge of hope surrounded by despair. "What are they offering?"

The lawyer sighs again and turns the papers in front of him towards FP. "You're going to want to take it," he says. "I'm telling you, I've been doing this a long time. It's a strong deal." His voice sounds encouraging, but it doesn't answer the one question that Jughead really cares about.

Jughead stops his pacing, glances down at the papers, but the answer isn't immediately visible there either. He's tired of the lawyer talking around his father's question, and he's scared, and his fear is manifesting as anger, lashing out at the messenger of bad tidings. "How many. Damn. Years," he asks, his voice hard. He swallows, not really wanting to hear the answer.

The lawyer leans over and points to the appropriate section on the piece of paper. "Twenty years is the offer," he says, "but I'm telling you, with these sorts of charges, he could be facing forty, or more. It's a strong deal, and the best he's likely to get."

Jughead sits down, hard. His dad and the lawyer talk more going through the details of the offer, but it all goes over Jughead's head. _Twenty years. Maybe forty._ The numbers seem impossibly large. So large he can't wrap his head around what they mean. It's longer than he's been alive. He had just started to feel like he was getting his dad back, and now to have him taken away for … Jughead knows he should be listening to what the lawyer is saying, but he can't. ALl he can do is sit, frozen, trying to hold everything in until the meeting is done and his father is being escorted back to his cell.

"Jug," FP says as he's being led away, trying to put some comfort into his voice, automatically turning to comfort his son rather than deal with the facts himself. But the Sheriff is leading him away, and Jughead is too numb to take it in anyway. The deputy lays a gentle hand on Jughead's elbow. "Come on, kid, it's time for you to leave," he says gently.

Jughead shakes himself and looks around, half hoping that Archie is still there, but a glance at the clock tells him the meeting went on too long. School will have started again by now. Jughead knows he can't handle the hallways full of chattering, noisy, normal life right now. He needs to clear his head. He needs to think.

Jughead walks away from the Sheriff's office in a random direction, his mind blank and full at the same time, and tries not to cry.


	7. Chapter 7

It's late by the time Jughead has recovered enough to notice the time. His mind feels foggy, and suddenly, even though for the last several hours he hasn't been able to stand the idea of seeing another human being, he suddenly doesn't want to be alone. He needs to talk to someone - someone who won't judge him, who won't try to fix things, but who will just be there for him, just listen. Someone who will understand. He knows Archie has been through a lot recently, having nearly lost his dad only yesterday, but he's the only one Jughead feels he can talk to; Betty would be sympathetic, but she wouldn't truly understand, not like Archie. Archie's always saying Jug can talk to him, that Jug shouldn't bottle things up so much; this one time, when it most feels like he shouldn't burden Archie, it feels like too much to hold alone.

The Andrews keep their back door locked, but there's a key hidden nearby; Riverdale is a small enough town that they feel safe doing that, and only close friends and family know about it anyway. Even with the strong need inside him, Jughead paces a while before opening the door, working up the nerve. He can't get over the feeling that it's unfair for him to burden Archie at a time like this. In the end, though, the weight of his emotions feels like it will crush him if he walks away, so he slowly opens the door.

The next thing he knows, Archie is charging at him with a baseball bat and Jughead is yelling frantically that it's him, it's Jughead. They both freeze in their tracks, breathing hard.

"Jughead?" says Archie slowly, lowering the bat. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" Jughead says, but he almost feels better; the panic has momentarily distracted him from the overwhelming pain of losing his father. "What are _you_ doing? You look like the dream warrior from 'Nightmare on Elm Street 3'."

The two of them are quiet for a moment, each catching their breath, and Archie moves to let Jughead come in, putting the bat down. "What did the lawyer say?" Archie says when he's regained his calm. He knows what Jughead is here about; they've known each other long enough that Archie knows there's only one reason for Jughead to come sneaking into his house this late at night, and that is because he has something he needs to get off his chest.

Jughead sits, buying himself some time. He wants to talk about this, but the words come surprisingly hard. "I've…" he starts, swallowing. "I've been walking around all night trying to wrap my head around how bad it is," he says, hiding his pain momentarily under bitterness. He pauses, trying to bring himself to say it. He glances at Archie, then away, not wanting to see the sympathy in Archie's eyes. "It's bad," he says quietly. He feels tears start to well up in his throat as he says it aloud for the first time. "My dad is facing twenty years, Archie." He can barely get the words out, and his voice is choked with held emotion. He stops, giving himself a moment to try and regain control of himself, try to hold in the chaos that wants to tear out of him.

Archie looks at him for a moment, at a loss for what to say. "Crap, Jughead," he says eventually, although he knows the words are nowhere near emphatic enough to capture what Jughead must be feeling. "I'm sorry, that sucks." He wants to reach out and comfort him, maybe give him a hug, but Jughead's entire body is closed off, his arms crossed, his back hunched over, and so Archie just stands awkwardly and waits for Jughead to continue.

"The lawyer thinks he should take the deal," Jughead says, having reigned back the tears enough to talk without letting them spill out. "And if he doesn't, and the case goes to trial, he could be facing forty years." The two of them stay in silence for a moment, Jughead trying to hold his emotions in, Archie trying to figure out what he can do or say to help his friend. "I'm just really, really scared," Jughead adds quietly, with difficulty. It feels good to admit it, but bad too, as though by giving them voice he has made the emotions more real. As though by admitting it to Archie he has also admitted it to himself.

"Yeah, me too," says Archie, looking out the window, not really thinking about how it sounds.

Jughead looks up in confusion. "About what?" he asks.

Archie hesitates, not sure if he should answer. After all, Jughead came here for comfort, not to hear about Archie's problems. But now that he's said it, it's too late to back off.

"About the man in the black hood," Archie tells Jug, sitting down himself at last. "I can't get him out of my head, Jug. I keep feeling like he's going to burst through the door, or a window, come finish what he started." He shakes his head, looking almost embarrassed. "And there's something more than that, too. Something about him, almost, didn't seem… human."

"Not human?" Jughead asks, frowning, happy to put aside his problems for a moment to focus on Archie's. "What do you mean?"

"Like… there was this sense of… incredible evil radiating off him. His eyes seemed so full of hatred, but it was more than that. Looking into those eyes… it was like looking into hell."

A chill runs through Jughead at his words. He remembers half-glimpsed images, books his father would hide away, strange tools lying around the trailer when his dad was too drunk to clean up. A couple times his dad had told him there were darker things in the world than most people believed, but always when he was off the wagon. Jughead had always assumed that they were imaginings of a drunken mind. But every now and then he had wondered if, instead, it was only when his father was drunk that he forgot that he was trying to hide these things from Jughead to protect him. After all, he had never once told these stories to Jellybean, and had warned Jughead multiple times to never tell them to her either. He said she was too young, that he was ruining Jughead but he wouldn't ruin Jellybean.

And then the next time he was sober he'd apologize and ask if Jughead remembered what he'd said about monsters. And when Jughead said not really, he'd say that was good, and ask Jughead to forget the rest. "You're not old enough yet either," he'd added one time.

"What do you think it was, then?" Jughead asks

Archie looks almost surprised at the question. He'd been expecting much more disbelief. "I'm not sure," he says. He shakes his head. "It looked like a human other than its eyes. If I believed in vampires, or demons, or evil spirits… but I don't. I guess just a… murderer." He looks outside again, and he sees the image in the glass - cold, blank eyes staring out of a dark hood. "But I don't quite believe that, either."

"Is that why you were about to swing a bat at my head?" Jughead asks, his usual method of resorting to a joke surfacing its head despite his best intentions to keep things serious.

Archie smiles a little at his tone. "Nah, that's just because you're a pain," he retorts, breaking the mood and grinning to show he's joking. Then he grows serious again. "But… yeah," he admits. "I've been guarding my dad at night. I'm afraid he… _it…_ is going to come back, finish what it started."

"I'm not sure how much good a baseball bat would do against some kind of monster," Jughead says, half teasing, but also half serious. Archie catches on to the serious part and shrugs.

"It's all I've got," he says. "My dad's not about to let me keep a gun in the house."

"Woah, who says anything about a gun?" Jughead says, shocked at how quickly Archie had jumped to that.

"Uh. No one," answers Archie. "But short of a vial of holy water or something, that's about all I can think of that would be better for defending my dad."

Jughead doesn't mention the weird small vials of unmarked clear liquid he found in one of his dad's cupboards. He'd always assumed they were vodka, but he rather suddenly had another idea of what they might be.

He wondered if this was something he'd be able to ask Dean.

"Just… take care of yourself, too, alright Arch?" Jughead asks, bringing his attention back to the present. He looks at Archie, who has dark circles under his eyes and looks as if he's been as awake and worried as Jughead himself. Monsters or no, he's concerned about his friend.

"I am," says Archie. "This is how I can take care of myself, Jug. By taking care of my dad." He looks at Jughead, realizing that that is exactly what Jughead is trying to - exactly what the legal system won't let Jughead do. He finally comes over and puts one hand on Jughead shoulder, ready to slip into a hug if that's what Jughead wants. "You take care of yourself too. And good luck with your dad."

Jughead accepts the hug with warmth, breathing deeply to keep from crying as he remembers why he came. "Yeah," he says quietly. "Thanks."

They hug in silence for a while, then with a half smile and a sleeve wiping at his eyes, Jughead waves Archie goodbye and slips out the back door, back into the night.

It's still a long time before Jughead returns to the trailer to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

By the next day, Jughead has made up his mind. There's no way he's going to just sit by and let his dad go to jail for twenty years. There has to be something that someone can do.

The first place he tries is the mayor's office, but he has about as much luck there as he did getting her to stop the shut-down of the drive in.

His next stop is the Whyte Wyrm; Dean had asked to be updated on his father's situation since he couldn't come to the meeting himself, but Jughead has other reasons for wanting to go there. He's seen Serpents avoid jail before. He hopes they can help his father do the same.

Dean's talking to a couple other serpents when Jughead arrives. They're telling him about the leads they've found on what the Black Hood might be; mostly they come to nothing. The usual suspects; a spirit, probably. There are the rumours of a violent murder in Riverdale's past, the sort you'd expect to see lingering spirits from, though no one ever had. "The Riverdale Reaper". Dean's best guess right now is that it's the spirit of either the Reaper or one of his victims, but he's not sure why the Reaper would choose now to appear, or why it would target Fred Andrews.

The conversation's going nowhere, so he's quick to break it off when Jughead comes in. His heart falls when he sees Jughead's face, though. He knows that tight-jawed look. Jughead's holding in bad news. "Let's go outside," he says, wanting to keep the news quiet for now if it's bad, but to his irritation Tallboy noticed Jughead too, and stops them at the door.

"What's the news, boy?" he asks, standing casually in their way with his arms crossed. He looks casual, but Dean knows better. He's tempted to push through just to prove that he's not scared of the man, but Jughead's already answering. "Your old man taking the deal?"

"Not if I can help it," Jughead says in a low voice.

"Not if _we_ can help it," Dean says, deciding it's time to take a stand. FP wouldn't let any of them rot in jail; they won't let him rot in jail either. He hears a murmur of agreement from the nearby serpents, but Tallboy scoffs.

"What are you going to do, bust him out of there?" he says derisively.

Dean knows that's not a feasible plan, not without more planning than there's time for. If they didn't get him out soon he'd be transferred to a higher-security prison, and there's no guarantee it would be one of those where Dean's father or the Serpents have connections. Meanwhile, busting him out while he's in Riverdale would spell the end for the Serpents, give the police a reason to crack down in a way they haven't yet, bring down the attention of more than just municipal sheriffs. Before he can answer, though, Jughead's replying with all the enthusiasm that Dean himself would have had at that age.

"Why not? It's a totally doable idea," Jughead says; it was actually what he'd been thinking about when he came to the Serpents. "The Sheriff's station has less security than Riverdale High. Then once he's out, it'd be a straight shot up Sweetwater River, and -"

"They'd know who did it, and that means they'd know where to look," Dean says, shaking his head, his voice frustrated. "But we _will_ get him out. Or maybe he won't even go in. He hasn't gone to trial yet?"

"He hasn't even decided if he's _going_ to trial yet," Jughead answers.

"Then there's still time," Dean says, and he puts a hand on Jughead's shoulder. "Listen, kid, we care about your dad almost as much as you do; I'd say just as much, except we ain't family, and you are. We're not going to let him rot in there if there's a thing we can do to stop it. You have my word." There's a murmur of agreement from some, though not all, of the increasingly growing crowd. Dean knows the Serpents are gathering to see what has become something of a power showdown between him and Tallboy; he knows he can't lose. He looks up from Jughead to Tallboy, staring him down. "Now I'm going to take you back to that trailer of yours, and you can tell me more about this deal," he says, the words to Jughead, but the tone daring Tallboy to stay in their way.

Tallboy stays there for a moment longer, then backs down, moving aside. As Jughead passes him, though, he feels a brief hand on his pocket. He lags behind Dean for a moment, and reaches into his pocket. There's a piece of paper there, with a short note: _Sounds like you need the Snake Charmer._ Beneath that there's an address, along with directions: _through the shop, in the back room._ Jughead glances around, not sure who put it in his pocket - it wasn't Tallboy, Dean was watching him too closely - but Tallboy does look at the note pointedly, and nod. Jughead nods back, puts it in his pocket, then catches up to Dean.

"You plant it on him?" Tallboy asks String Bean later.

"Snake Charmer's info and a note getting him there," String Bean confirms. "Just like we planned."

"You're proving useful, kid," Tallboy says, almost dismissively, but String Bean smirks self-assuredly.

"Why'd you back down?" String Bean asks suddenly. He flexes his hands, as if ready for a fight. "You could have taken him."

"You gotta learn when to hide in the grass and wait, kid," Tallboy says. "That's the problem with you young'uns, you're always ready to fight. The long, slow game's where the real power lies."

"Whatever you say, boss," String Bean says, shrugging. He doesn't really get all this long planning Tallboy's doing. Of course, that part's Tallboy's doing too. Tallboy's been planning this too long for some young Serpent to mess it up by getting cold feet and blurting out the whole thing. What the kid doesn't know, he can't tell.

Tallboy's made a deal. And unlike FP, he keeps his deals. And that means he gets his rewards.


End file.
